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The night was cool and sweet, a faint smell of rain tinted the air and filled Runaan's nose even as he rushed through the countless walls of leaves surrounding branch after branch of trees.
Each breath he took quickly escaped. The silence he usually strived for was forgotten in his mad rush.
He was almost home, he was on the final stretch of the journey. Just a little more- A little faster...
Usually, he would stop to admire the green of the trees, and the waning moon's light above the forest, the way the Xadian life flourished all throughout the forest, but not tonight. Tonight he had to be home.
As he broke through the last tree, he flew into the open air, only to drop and roll into a brilliant green field. His shoulder hurt from the landing, a wound from his latest mission hid beneath multiple layers of bandages. That didn't matter right now. It could be fixed in the morning.
As he got up from the roll, he grasped for his shoulder and took the moment to catch his breath, drinking in precious air as if he could get no more for years to come.
The field looked oddly sad, beneath the moon's light. The grass looked more of a blue-ish green, still young despite it being late summer. Runaan never did know how his beloved kept the plants nearby so tame... To the right, a large hut of stone and wood, where a bright golden light shone through the many open windows and doors. That was the forge. No sound of metal against metal rang out of the small hut now. His sunlight wasn't in there. To the left, a compilation of targets, swords, training dummies, and obstacles. Not very organized, but cleaned up enough to stay relatively out of the way.
In the center of the field stood a large house, each window had a single candle sitting in it, flickering kindly and emitting a warm light and aura around the house. The chimney had smoke billowing out of it, light peeked out of a window on the second floor, though a curtain obscured the interior of the room. Despite this, hope swelled in Runaan's heart. Perhaps he wasn't too late... Dear luna please don't let him be too late...
He practically leaped over the steps of the front porch, landing easily on the flarewood beneath his feet, scratched up and splintered from years of constant feet running on and off the little area. Mostly him and Rayla.
Rayla should be in bed by now. But so should his light.
For once, Runaan could care less about his bedtimes.
He grabbed the door handle and turned it, but merely inched the door open slowly.
In case they were sleeping. How he hoped they weren't sleeping...
Despite his care, a very familiar squeak filled the house as the door moved. Runaan froze, not even in the house yet. No rustling, no hint that anyone was awake.
He gave a sigh, then stepped inside.
He was home. And no doubt he had missed his sunshine yet again...
He slipped into the living room quietly, making sure to close the door behind him.
The living room was dark where the dancing flame in the fireplace didn't reach. Various swords, bows, and knives decorated the walls, each masterfully created, and decorated with multiple swirling and spiraling patterns over the blades and hilts. Each followed a similar design to Runaan's own bowblade, each was a craft of one master smith. The same smith that was no doubt sleeping alone currently because Runaan didn't know how to make a deadline for the most important things...
Runaan set his weapons down by the sofa, where a shelf sat just above the arm of one chair, outside of a toddler's reach but certainly where an adult could get to without difficulty. He shed his sleeveless coat onto the sofa, settling with a silent promise to make up for his absence tomorrow. Now... the weariness of his rush were catching up.
... Maybe he could surprise his light tomorrow?
He turned towards the stairs leading to the bedrooms, only to freeze as a soft blue light peeked out from the kitchen doorway. The assassin turned around, then slowly approached the blue glow carefully. Upon the kitchen table, he realized, sat a single candle glowing a deep blue color. Its wax was blue, emitted no heat, the flame was blue, it created no shadow.
A moonshadow's candle.
Why had Tinker gone through the effort of making one if-
As his eyes immediately adjusted to the softer hue, it became clear to him the presence of two plates. One had many berries, grapes, and fruits on it, all surrounding a good sized piece of meat. Runaan had expected that to be there, his light always left food out like this, though Runaan rarely ate it so much as he tossed it to the animals a few hours before the sun rose, then pretended he ate the contents. There was no surprise towards that plate.
But the other one...
The candle poked out of a cake slice on the second plate.
A cake slice.
Tinker and Rayla had left him nearly a fourth of a whole cake...
Guilt welled in his heart as he stared at the little setup. He had missed his beloved's birthday yet still they left cake for him? Even if they didn't know when he'd be back. Or even if-
"Runaan?"
The assassin whirled around with surprise, not having heard anyone approach. He naturally tensed as he fully faced the direction to which his back had just been turned to, but he knew he didn't need to.
A sunfire with the ever recognizable circular cheek markings stood at the door. He wore a robe, though normally bright orange as it was, the blue light of the moon candle changed it to more of a greenish color. He looked tired. Of course he was. Sunfire's had no true energy source at night.
"Tinker." Runaan smiled softly, placing a hand on the table beside him.
"You're late." The sunfire said, though his own faint smile played on his lips. He took a step forward, before pulling Runaan into a tight hug. Runaan, for his part, merely melted into it.
"I know." Runaan sighed, wrapping an arm around Tinker. "I tried to be faster but the mission went sour." He shifted his gaze to the wound on his shoulder.
The sunfire froze.
"You're also injured."
"...Yes."
Tinker sighed and retreated, even though Runaan had wanted to keep in that stance with Tinker forever...
"Come on." The sunfire sighed, then headed to the living room with a swift beckon. Runaan had to take note of just how moonshadow Tinker was acting... Being up near midnight, being quiet for once, and this.
Runaan found himself not caring as much about the hug a moment ago.
He followed easily, only for Tinker to sit him on the sofa. "Stay." The sunfire ordered, then retreated into the kitchen again. Another moment passed, Runaan waited patiently as the sound of his beloved shuffling through various drawers rang through the kitchen doorway.
When Tinker came back, he had the plate with the cake on it, a fork, and a first aid kit. Runaan quirked an eyebrow. The first aid kit was understandable, but the cake?
"You do realize it's your birthday, right?" Runaan asked as Tinker took a seat beside Runaan and handed the plate over.
Tinker, for his part, only shrugged. "That doesn't matter." He all but poked Runaan with the fork until Runaan finally took it. Only then did Tinker start pulling out the things needed to clean and bandage the wound. Runaan just watched for a moment as his sunfire focused intently on preparing the materials, until the sunfire looked up. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He questioned with a flick of his ears. "I made sure to save that piece for you, go ahead." He took a piece of medical cloth into his mouth, then jerked his head back until it ripped while he applied the alcohol to a ball of cotton.
Runaan grumbled, but took a bite. Flavor flooded into his mouth. He was positively frozen for a moment, tasting the sweet cheesecake and chocolate mix.
A small laugh escaped Tinker. Runaan looked from the cake to the sunfire in a questioning manner, only for his beloved to laugh more. "I didn't mean for you to worship it." The sunfire said, hiding his mouth with a hand.
"I'm not worshipping the cake." Runaan smiled himself, swallowing the bite. Even this dead at night, Tinker still had a bright laugh. "I'm worshipping your baking skill. You're certainly getting better."
The proud smile that played on Tinker's face, even hidden behind a hand, was enough for Runaan to absolutely fall for him all over again. "Well thank you." Tinker murmured, ducking his head like he always did when he got flustered. Runaan was sure that if there were more light in the room, he would be able to see the light blush dusting over Tinker's cheeks. "Okay," Tinker finally said, looking down at the cotton ball. "This is gonna sting." The warning wasn't required.
This happened enough that Runaan hardly noticed the light sting when the alcohol was applied. He didn't react, only stayng still and waiting for Tinker to finish cleaning the wound. Once that was done, he took a bite of the cake, then let Tinker continue.
"How did you know I'd be home tonight?"
Tinker shrugged before answering with a simply "I didn't."
"Then why did you leave out the cake?"
"Because I hoped."
Once Tinker finished bandaging the wound, he set aside the first aid kit, then stole a bit of the cake. Runaan shot him a fake offended look. "What happened to this being mine?" He questioned with a light huff.
Tinker began laughing again, oh how sweet the sound was on Runaan's ears, before answering. "Checking to make sure it's not poisoned."
Runaan rolled his eyes, but gave his own chuckle. "First, poison takes effect far longer than-"
"-Yeah yeah," Tinker leaned in suddenly and pecked a kiss on Runaan's cheek, before standing up. "Come on," He took Runaan's hand, then pulled him up. "Come on, I'm sure you're tired."
Runaan gave a reluctant look at the last bit of cake on the plate, but sighed when Tinker gave him the most adorable look ever. He was probably tired of sleeping alone...
And it was still Tinker's birthday, which Runaan did owe him for being late.
"...Okay fine."
At least he didn't miss Tinker's birthday completely.